THE Department of Energy said Mindanao’s power supply margin improved sharply on Sept. 13, with the grid posting a 545-megawatt (MW) gross reserve as available capacity outpaced demand.
The latest demand-supply data from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) showed peak demand at 2,246 MW, while available capacity reached 2,791 MW.
The 545-MW reserve was nearly four times the 144-MW reserve recorded a day earlier, when demand reached 2,459 MW against 2,603 MW of available capacity.
The improvement came after Mindanao experienced tighter supply margins earlier in the week. On Sept. 11, the grid posted a negative 46-MW gross reserve, with peak demand of 2,657 MW exceeding the 2,611 MW available capacity.
The grid also recorded a negative 109-MW reserve on Sept. 8, when demand reached 2,717 MW against available capacity of 2,608 MW.
Mindanao posted a 125-MW reserve on Sept. 10 and 49 MW on Sept. 9, underscoring how quickly the island’s supply margin can change as demand and available generating capacity fluctuate.
From Jan. 1 to Sept. 13, the DOE reported an average actual system demand of 2,450 MW, compared with average actual available capacity of 3,235 MW. That resulted in an average gross reserve of 785 MW for the period.
Mindanao’s highest peak demand so far this year reached 2,775 MW on May 12, highlighting the need to maintain sufficient generating capacity as electricity demand changes.
NGCP data also showed that Mindanao generated 53,018 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity on Sept. 13, down from 55,197 MWh on Sept. 12 and 57,901 MWh on Sept. 11.
The DOE said maintaining adequate reserves remains critical to grid reliability, particularly when demand rises or generating capacity falls.
For businesses and industries, a stable electricity supply remains essential to keeping operations running and managing power-related risks. DEF
